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POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

By:
NEELAM KUMARI
Assistant Professor (Guest)- Law
Patna Law College, PU, Patna.
 The Supreme Command of the Defence Force shall be vested in the President as
per Article 53(2) of the Constitution of India.
 The President has power to appoint the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force.

 The President has the power to declaring war and also to make peace.

 These powers are “regulated by law”.

 However these power can be exercised under the supervision of the Parliament.
 The power of Pardon is a kind of Judicial power.
 Article 72 of the Constitution of India confers the power upon the President to grant
pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or
commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence in all cases-
a) Where the punishment or sentence is by the Court Martial;
b) Where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a
matter to which the executive power of the Union extends:
c) Where the sentence is a death sentence.
 However does not affect the power conferred by law on any officer of the Armed
officer of the Union to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a Court
Martial in respect of sub-clause(a) of clause (1) of Article 72.
 Same as does not affect the power to suspend, remit or commute a sentence of
death exercisable by the Governor of a State under any law for the time being in
Force in respect of sub-clause (c) of clause (1) of Article 72.[Article 72(3)]
 Pardon: A pardon means to forgive an offender from all sentences, punishments as
well as disqualifications and restore his previous position in the society as if he had
never committed the offence.
 Reprieves: It means to delay or temporary suspension of the death sentence.
 Respites: It means reducing the degree of the punishment on some special
situations or grounds. For example:-Mental disorder, Pregnancy of a women
offender etc.
 Remission: It means reduction of the quantum of the punishment without
changing its character. For example:- The punishment of 1year may be remitted to
6 months.
 Commutation: It means the substitution of a character of punishment to a lighter one.
For example:- for rigorous imprisonment to simple imprisonment.
 The power of pardon of the President is not exercised on his own discretion but on the
advise of the Council of Ministers.[In Maru Ram v. Union of India,1981]
 In India the pardoning power can be exercised before, during or after trial.

 Its object is to correct judicial errors or imperfection as possible as per the provisions
in the Constitution for this purpose.
 In Epuran Sudhar v. Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2006, the Supreme Court has held
that the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 as well as Governors
pardoning power under Article 161 is subject to judicial review. It cannot be exercised
on the basis of political reasons, caste and religious consideration. It would amount to
violation of the Constitution.
The power of the executive to override any Act of the legislature is known as the
Veto Power .

ABSOLUTE VETO:
The power of the President to withholding of assent to the Bill passed by the
Parliament; the bill then ends and never become an Act.

QUALIFIED POWER:
Which can be overridden by the legislature with the higher majority
VETO
POWER SUSPENSIVE POWER:
The President returns the Bill for reconsideration of the Parliament. When Parliament
resends it to the President with or without amendment then he must give his assent.

POCKET POWER:
The President neither assents nor reject or return the Bill but kept in pending without
taking any action on Bill passed by the legislature
 The President of India has three types of Veto powers:

 Absolute Veto: The President of India as per Article 111 has power to withhold his
assent to the Bill passed by the Parliament. The bill then ends and never become an
Act. It is not a discretionary power.
 This Veto is available regardless of the Bill in the cases:

a) Private member’s bill; and

b) When the cabinet resigns: If the bill passed by the both the House of the
Parliament but the Cabinet reigns before the President could give his assent and
the new cabinet may advise the President to not give his assent to the Bills
passed by the old cabinet.
 This Veto power was used In 1954 by the then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad in
case of PEPSU Appropriation Bill.
 Pocket Veto: The President neither assents nor reject or return the Bill but kept in
pending for indefinite time without taking any action on Bill passed by the
legislature. This Veto power is available in Ordinary Bill, Money Bill, Financial Bill.
This is once used by the then President Zail Singh in case of Indian Post office
(Amendment) Bill in 1986.
 Suspensive Veto: The President returns the Bill for reconsideration of the
Parliament. When Parliament again passed it and resends it to the President with or
without amendment then he must give his assent. This type of Veto is available only
for Ordinary Bill and Financial Bill. This is once used in 2006 by the then President
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in the case of Office of Profit Bill.
 The President has no Veto power in respect of a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
The 24th Constitutional (Amendment) Act of 1971 made it obligatory for the
President to give his assent to a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
 The President also enjoys some powers concerned with emergency.

 Part XVIII from Articles 352to 360 of the Constitution of India arms the President
with three kinds of emergency powers are:
 National Emergency: If the President of India is satisfied that the security of India
or any part the territory is threatened by war, external aggression or armed
rebellion may by proclamation declare it to that effect.[Article 352]
 A Proclamation of emergency once approved by Parliament shall remain in force
for a period of six months.
 The President by order suspends the right conferred by Part III of the Constitution
of India except Article 20 and 21 during emergency.[Article 359]
 State Emergency: If the President either on the receipt of report of the Governor
of the State or otherwise satisfied that a situation arisen in which the State
government failed to be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution may proclaim emergency. [Article 356]
 It can be imposed by the approval of the Parliament for six months which can be
extended by six months by the further approval of the Parliament , up to a
maximum of three years.
 The powers of the State legislature must be exercised by or under the authority of
the President.
 Financial Emergency: The President may proclaim emergency when a situation
has arisen in which the financial stability of India is threatened. [Article 360]
 This proclamation must be approved by the Parliament within two months.
IN NEXT SESSION WE WILL DISCUSS ON THE POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT
OF INDIA